Suraj Punj Journal For Multidisciplinary Research ISSN NO: 2394-2886

THE SOCIO-CULTURAL ASPECT OF FOLKLORE AND FOLKTALES AMONG AO- NAGA COMMUNITY IN : A HISTORIOGRAPHY

Yimsusangla Longkumer, MA Final Year Reg. No 11719105, Department of history, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Punjab

Abstract:

There is a long history of folklore and folktales in the human civilization. Through the course of modernization and westernization people usually tend to forget the great tales and stories of one’s own past. But in the late 20th century scholars have now shifted their interest in their culture and social history for the attainment of knowledge and how one own society was depicted by the great men. This research deals with the socio-cultural aspect of folklore and folktales among the Ao-Naga community. It explores the evolution its impact and cultural sustenance among them. Firstly, this article talks about the life and structure of Naga society, its focus on the literacy, education and population. Main focus on this research is to have an overall outlook of Nagaland as a whole but particularly the Ao-Naga community. Secondly, the lore's, tales and the concept of exchanging their knowledge is the main aim of this research. This article dwells with variety of tales, myths of ancestral stories that were passed on among the people with its acceptance of understanding and how it plays an important role in their lives in new time and space.

Key words: Folklore, folktales, society, community.

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Introduction:

Over the decades Naga’s folklore and folktales has become an important source to gain knowledge about their culture and society. One cannot deny the fact that it is important to learn and understand regional history in . Scholars in Nagaland have witnessed a wide range of revelation in the past years to explore the culture of the Naga’s. Though there are many scholars yet very little work is done on the folklore and folk tales of Nagaland. There are the great tales of the beautiful culture and the vibrant taste of victorious past of Nagaland.

Naga’s does not have much written records; the art of writing down the history was ignored. Oral tradition was one of the main bases for educating the youths. Morung which is a male dormitory is evident in almost all the places it was like an education centers for the males to gather together and tell stories. Christianity brought the age of educating the youths; this was the learned people started to understand and then only come the age of recording and writing down the histories. With the spread of nationalism in India, various states increased their interest in the regional history. This letter brought for the identity from their past. This took the form of a desire to re-establish an identity of a social group to which they belong. Therefore, this research paper tends to see the history of a community as a whole.

Objectives:

1. To explore the historiography of Naga in general and AO-Naga in particular with special reference to society, culture. 2. To examine the AO-Naga history through folklore and folktales. 3. To analyze the present social changes and trends in AO- Naga community.

Area of the study:

The study area will be the state of Nagaland which is situated in the North eastern part of India. This research will cover the origin and evolution of Naga tribes along with their traditional folklore and folk tales. This research will help us to have a better understanding of Naga tribes and the complex histories by taking the help of some prominent source.

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Sources: India indicating Nagaland Administrative Atlas Volume 01, Census Commission 2011 from office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, (MHA) India. Accessed on 24.04.2019.

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Sources: Nagaland Administrative Atlas Volume 01, Census Commission 2011 from office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, (MHA) India. Accessed on 24.04.2019 Disclaimer: The author/s do not have a better resolution of this map/figure.

Research Methodology:

This research is mainly based on historical, qualitative and some analytical methods. Both the use of primary and secondary sources has been focused in this paper. More emphasis was given on oral tradition with folklore and folktales. Museums, library, and state archives papers as well as reports etc are the main sources for completing this research.

The making of Naga society and culture:

Naga’s are like a joint family, living under the same roof with many distinctive tribes yet there is always a similarity between each of them. Naga’s follows the patriarchal system where male is

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the head or the dominion of the family. Since ancient times the male were the one to make all the decisions and always led the family or the village in front. Even today the male dominated society among the Naga’s has been an important characteristic of the Naga society. But with the better age in time women has started to participate in various activities like taking part in elections or aiming for a higher post in any firm.

Agriculture is the main occupation of the Naga society. They solely depend on the agriculture for their livelihood. But with the passage of time people started pursing more of government jobs and private business. Ambitious minds have crept into the society and this in turn has led the society into a more civilized and better economy for the people. Family is the basic unit of the Naga society. And the family is often dominated but the male head of the family. In Naga society marriages are monogamous and consider a high virtue among them. Marriage within the same surname is not allowed as it is considered as a taboo. Land and property are often passed on to the male child while the mother’s ornaments and all the little things are given to the daughters.

Naga’s are experts in craftsmen; they mostly decorate their villages with the help of the craftsmen’s. Almost all the women are known to weaving. Naga’s are always favorable to colors when it comes to any work with this, we can see the colorful shawls and headgears. Their jewelry is also remarkable in fact their rich in this type has always attracted the outsiders to know more about the society and what it signifies. Morung which is a male dormitory is evident in almost all the places as it was like a meeting hub for the males to gather together and tell stories. Though the building of the Morung is different but the idea and techniques are all the same. Christianity is the main religion that is followed among the Naga’s. Recently the motto “Nagaland for Christ” has begun and it is the main motive of the church to reach out to everyone who belongs to the state Nagaland. There are also people who follow different types of religions such as , Buddhism, and Islam etc. There is a religious toleration among the people.

But leaving aside the good deeds Naga society has been truly deprived. Corruption is rampant, bribery has become like a daily bread, the rich culture is slowly diminishing; drunkards and drug addicts are increasing. The backbone of Naga’s seemed to be breaking down. Unless there is an awakening, the Naga’s will soon turn into moral and spiritual invalids an economic and political parasite.

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Folklore and folk tales of Naga’s a new subject of history:

Folklore and folktales are essentially stories that were told to society by their parents from generation to generation by mouth for the purpose of educating and to know about the historical and mythical events incurred by our elders and these stories has been infuse to us during our childhood. This are important because they were the earliest form of educating one another as there was no mass media, communication, radio or TV. So, people have to tell this tales for educating and for promoting the culture exchange of ideas and views. This often led to the broadening of imaginations and amuses the children. Today we have books and literature about these stories educating the lost youths. People love stories, myths, magic’s, and romance and in 21st centuries we have movies, documentaries and other sorts of things and materials to satisfy our needs. The methods and techniques have evolved but the stories stay the same with the same intentions as our ancestors had when they told them to their children.

Historically Naga’s have a great past with many stories to be told. In the history of Naga’s, Nagaland was a small state comprising of naked tribal living among them. The most remarkable way of defining Naga’s was that they were the “Head Hunters”. This has been recorded in many of the folklore and folk tales. Nagas’s being tribal have a good number of stories that were told to children. This was the first type of education among them. They would often gather in the Morung’s near the bonfire and stories were exchanged as a form of learning. This brought the identity of the Naga’s. Naga’s are not only identified by their rich culture but also by the folk tales and lore that were passed on to them from the ancestors the survival, the lost battles and the mighty warriors that lost and sacrificed their lives for the loved ones.

Beginning of the last centuries, the Naga’s were a pre-literate society and every aspect of their lifestyle was retained in the oral tradition. Even after more than a century of being educated, much of the folklore and folk literature of the Naga’s still remain in the oral tradition. Even in today’s centuries, there are scholars who attempt to record this literature in writing in other forms of documentation but this attempt is mostly rare and specific to individual tribes.

Today, the bulk of the recorded of the folktales of the tribes comprises the account left by the foreigners, missionaries and British administrators written in English language. The

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indigenous writings are in various tribal languages, only a few books published in English. These books contain a valuable source to the tribal’s. It is extremely difficult to speak of a common folkloristic tradition or folk literature of the Naga’s as a whole. This is because there have not been much recorded materials about the lore of all the tribes collectively known as the Naga’s. Talking about the 21st century in Nagaland there is a particular subject that deals in educating the youths by teaching them the folklore and folk tales of their own community and this has been a part as a subject.

Women in the folklore and folk tales of Nagaland:

The image of women is generally projected as the weaker sex in the normative hierarchy of any patriarchal system. This is, however often believed by certain figures from myths, legends and history the world over, where she is depicted as the embodiment of power of a different kind. The association of some extra-ordinary or extra- human power with women has been a curious but integral aspect of narratives of human history and civilization. Naga women have always played a subordinate role in society and advocated a change in male attitude towards the other sex so that a more balanced partnership could be devised for greater development in the state. Naga women’s lot in society was comparatively better than their counterparts in many other societies.

Women seem to have contributed to the cult of heroism attributed to the male species. In Ao-Naga folklore, there is a song which is sung to ridicule who pass over at going to war with the enemy. The Ao-Naga warrior shawl was fashioned by women to inspire and reward heroic exploits of the men in warfare. It means women encouraged men to take the leading role on various fronts mainly to ensure their own safety and security. The division of roles thus evolved worked perfectly in the pre-education and pre-modern rural environment. But with the advent of new education and new religion, some concessions were allowed to the women, for instance girls were sent to school and women could participate in the activities of the church. Social structures and the belief system of different people obviously inform the tales, legends, myths about such women. It would be difficult to find accounts of a warrior like heroines in Naga lore because in Naga society, women are restricted from taking up weapons of warfare.

The Ao-Naga too, like the other Naga tribes are a patriarchal society. By their folklore are numerous women centered narratives which depict women as the dominant characters

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wielding power which traditionally belongs to the man. It is seen that women possess or endowed with extra power or metal energy through which they can control or manipulate events and fortunes at the most crucial moments in lives. Such narrative from Ao-Naga folklore is about a woman called Longkongla, the heroine of an origin myth. The second narrative is also about a woman called Akangla, the main heroine of a legend. She was a fierce lady with a good soul. Among the tales in Ao-Naga folklore, there is a type which depicts certain character who possess supernatural powers. The next one is about such a person called Yajangla who had a tigress spirit and chanted magic formula.

Not only this but the women also performed various practices like singing for men, serving them while working, women always had a power to voice up their thoughts and opinions. They were the home warmers; they knew the art of weaving, handloom and other things. The benevolent subordination of old is thus given a new phase. The socially constructed self of the woman in the past was thoroughly subordinated; by and large the Naga women thus enjoy some personal freedom whether married or single. Thus, women played a very important role in the folklore and folktales.

Naga community from folklore and folktales to modern education:

Talking about education it is not easy because literature as such in the context of the Naga,s came only in the 20th century and most of the tales, legends, myths and songs were in oral form. Naga’s apparently share a common culture but no common language. This has resulted in a very intriguing and challenging situation as regards to the culture of the Naga’s. Beginning of the last century, the Naga’s were a pre-literate society and every aspect of their lifestyle was retained in the oral-tradition. Even after more than a century of being educated much of the folklore and folk literature of the Naga’s still remain in the oral tradition. In recent times, attempts are being made by scholars to record and provide education through it.

A society that was pre-dominant and stagnant, a group of people that revolved around the agriculture and hunting had now great tales that were told and ready to tell the world, ready for the stories to be known by the people. Though with the lack of proper necessity and education was the biggest challenge that made them fail record all the happenings of great past. But today, Nagaland has hold on to the privileges that were given to them and using it as a tool to educate themselves, learn more about the folklore and folktales. This led to the writing down

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of indigenous writings which was also a part of modern education, though it was mostly written down in tribal languages, only a few books have been published in English. However, these books also pertain to specific tribal lore's only. Most of the written accounts invariably contain myths, legends and folktales of different kinds. Such a tribal and progressive view of the inherent possibilities of folk material evolving into literature has many dimensions.

Folk lore has also brought a link between the ancient worship that people has performed. Before the coming of Christianity people worshiped the stories that were told to them in different eves and movements. They worshipped big trees, mountains, rivers, birds because in the stories they were taught that it brought them prosperity and peace. Such dedication of worshipping is part of daily activities. Not only this but even the Naga community was solely responsible in bring this lore’s into active by believing in the stories, and the song sung by the ancestors. Knowledge of reason was a key role in bringing out the things that were responsible for the things which they learned that brought into existence. Nagas believe that since their past was a mightiest one, they thought it was necessary to bring the practices into the community so that the history doesn’t dies but stays with them in the heart whenever they see it being in action.

Sanskritization or assertion among Ao-Naga's:

The word Sanskritization was first used by M.N. Srinivas, Sanskritization simply means the lower caste following the steps of the higher caste. Dating back to the ancient period the Ao- Nags's were merely a group of people who were pagans and did not have any religion. Christianity was still not introduced, according to the Ao-Naga myth the first people of the Ao emerged from the six rocks called the Lungterok. This was the first believe they had among themselves and started to somehow worship it. The Ao-Naga in particular belongs to a major group in Nagaland. If we look back there are stories that say much about their culture and society, they did not believe anything but worshipped the mother nature. Social class distinctions were made on the basis of the firewood's collected in front of the main door. With the coming of Christianity the Ao-Nagas were the first to accept Christ and this started the age of revival, a time where people started to have felt of self-realization that it was the wrong believe that they had been following. But no one can blame them because it was a lack of education and backwardness that prevailed among them.

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The nature worshippers and the believers of the ancient rituals started to move towards the better age when they know the difference that they were getting through education. Today also there are some elders who still are hardcore believers of the ancient rituals but what can we say it is the choice of the individual to believe in whatever we want. The society has changed a lot among the Ao-Nagas as compared to the ancient times. Credit goes to the age of Christianity brought by the Britshers, the Ao-Nagas embraced it and their society changed completely. In this stage the Ao-Nagas today have placed a remarkable position in Nagaland, there are numerous educated scholars who are in almost in the entire world, and there are also ministers and many big shots. I believe it is because of the change in the mentality of the social being, the understanding that there is a better tomorrow if we change and give a new try to something that beholds and stands before us.

Conclusion:

The Naga community belongs to non-caste system alike, but with having an autonomous culture from the outset. Every village is composed of different clans and sub clans. Every village is divided into sectors such as A and B khels respectively. Nagas possess the aptitude with music, folklore, arts and crafts, games of chase alike which testify common values. General gatherings, community singing, dancing, rituals, festivals and the like are termed as the cultural similarities amongst the Naga tribal’s.

The bulk of the folklore of Nagaland is yet to be documented and therefore no comprehensive categorization can be made of the numerous stories, both recorded and oral. To be sure, there are variations of some stories to be found in different tribal lore, but there are also many unique ones that are not present. However, the stories of the origins are quite similar and correlate one another. It is not only about the place or manner of their origin, but the point of reference regarding the different clans within a particular tribe, as well as kin inter-tribal discourses relating to the tribe as whole other tribes.

The art involved in folklores is often ignored and many scholars have generally attributed a ‘lack of sophistication’ to folklore. The task to write down or documented a good folklore will be a great challenge especially to the Nagas not because of linguistic diversity but also for the dynamics of changes in their cultural contexts. But nonetheless, the process will have to be undertaken because this lore’s creates history and consider it as great literatures.

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Each paper in this work focuses on different aspects and fields. It has broadened the study and brought into light the various dimensions of folklores. Language barrier was the most intriguing part as it was the major key role to it. Translating it and documenting it has become a pivotal challenge in folklore since every tribe has their own dialect.

Further research into the study of folklore and folktales is a recommendable factor because looking into it there are less books or less scholars that writes about this book because it becomes a difficult task. One major problem for this is the language barrier since all the people in Nagaland speak different languages. And sometimes the sources that are less available since people today tend not to look into this type of work.

It has strengthened my knowledge of understanding the folklores and not only that but the cultures that were associated with it. Although being a Naga I was unaware of the stories and the cultures that were present to me but with this the most important thing that i have learned was the knowledge and the interesting stories.

Be it superstitious or unnatural it was still an amazing way people have behaved and lived on with his/her lifer. Today we might laugh on it and create jokes about it but if we look into it was our forefathers that they believed it. If there was no coming of Christianity then we would have still been like our ancestors and believing in it like them.

It is also important to know of our cultures and educated ourselves with it because what’s the point in learning someone’s culture when we don’t even know our own. Every village, every tribe, every state and every country have a story to tell and just like that we must always keep a good check and update ourselves with the knowledge that is regional to us.

One can always start a work by going to his/her native village and ask the elders the lifestyle the stories that they have been learning. And later the outcome will be fruitful because there is less book on it and through this people will have more knowledge and it will pursue them to learn more and know more. In return this can make one’s own ancestors proud because legacy still continues. Overall review about this research demonstrates that the folk lore and folk tales plays a major role among the individual. There is more scope of exploration both culturally and socially, it has the potential to go far beyond the world and tell the people about the great history of a small yet vibrant community.

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With this a liberal and progressive view of the inherent possibilities of folk material evolving into literature provides a fresh perspective into its study and the urgency to document and preserve the diversity of these verbal expressions if indigenous people all over the world. The task will be no doubt pose a great challenge but the permanence in the annals of their history as literature will be known to the world.

Acknowledgement:

I would like to thank Dr. Santosh Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Lovely professional university who has read the first draft of this paper and commented on the theme.

Declaration of Conflicting Interest:

There was no conflicting of interest in publishing this paper/article.

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